TESCO is planning a new store which they say will revamp a run-down town centre and create 400 new jobs.

Durham County Council planning officers were to have recommended members approve the plans for the store at Stanley today but the planning committee meeting was put back until next month due to the bad weather.

The Tesco Extra will be one of the first in a new generation of environmentally-friendly eco stores. As well as food, the supermarket will offer shoppers clothing, electrical goods, DVDs and CDs. It is hoped it will be open by mid-2012.

At a public exhibition this year, attended by hundreds of locals, more than 94% who filled in a questionnaire said they supported the proposal.

Councillors will be told that eleven residents objected to the development on the grounds of access and parking, but officers are to recommend “that the objectors were not considered sufficient to justify refusal of the application.”

Planning officers will advise council members that the new store “will enhance Stanley town centre by replacing an existing retail park which has a poor appearance with a large modern building which will enhance the appearance of the town centre and will draw people into the town centre. The scheme represents significant investment in Stanley which will widen retail choice and contribute to the regeneration of the area.”

North Durham MP Kevan Jones is also backing the scheme to revitalise the Clifford Road area of Stanley.

Mr Jones said: “I am confident that this development will be of great benefit to my constituents.”

To maximise use of the town centre site, the store will be on stilts with shoppers entering the store via travellators linking the ground floor car park to the store above. There will also be a cafe on a mezzanine floor.

Under and around the store there will be 550 car parking spaces, including 28 disabled and 24 parent and child.

Tesco’s corporate affairs manager Doug Wilson said: “We were very encouraged by such a positive response to our proposal. People who came to the exhibition were telling us over and over again that they welcomed the store because it would bring competition, jobs and long overdue improvements.”

He added: “Stanley, like many towns in the country, has been badly affected by the recession so we hope this investment will bring a much-needed boost.”